Paige Bueckers > first women's college basketball player ever to eclipse 1 million Instagram followers. | The Boneyard

Paige Bueckers > first women's college basketball player ever to eclipse 1 million Instagram followers.

UConn superstar Paige Bueckers has officially made women’s college basketball history.

Bueckers surpassed one million followers on Instagram this week. She’s the first women’s college basketball player to ever do so.

thespun.com

Look: Paige Bueckers Makes Women's College Basketball History

UConn superstar Paige Bueckers has officially made women's college basketball history. Bueckers surpassed one million followers on Instagram this week. She's
thespun.com thespun.com
 
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fomalhaut said:
Also possibly increases the chance of her staying longer.
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And if the next high school basketball star has dreams of becoming a social media celebrity, they may also consider playing at UConn because Paige is part of the Huskies Nation where she got her start and a lot of media support.
Since it worked out for her then maybe if they attend UConn it could work out for them too.
 
LarryLegend said:
I thought UCONN was on the map
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They don't teach much geography in primary school, and some future BB stars still aren't old enough to make their first tweet.
Paige will be known as a UConn alumni for many years to come.
And then kids can Google UConn to learn where it's located and all of the rest about its claim to fame.
By putting it on social media, she'll help both herself and UConn grow a bigger following.
 
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Show me the championships. I really like Bueckers, but I'll take a Stewie type all day and twice on Sunday. Always let her game do the talking. I'd rather follow championships than product placements. Bueckers can accomplish both, but I honestly don't care what she does, or what she hawks, off the court.
 
sun said:
And if the next high school basketball star has dreams of becoming a social media celebrity, they may also consider playing at UConn because Paige is part of the Huskies Nation where she got her start and a lot of media support.
Since it worked out for her then maybe if they attend UConn it could work out for them too.
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That's a nice thought but Bueckers had most of her instagram following before she signed with UConn. Bueckers and UConn are helping each other.
 
TheFarmFan said:
Show me the championships. I really like Bueckers, but I'll take a Stewie type all day and twice on Sunday. Always let her game do the talking. I'd rather follow championships than product placements. Bueckers can accomplish both, but I honestly don't care what she does, or what she hawks, off the court.
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I think most fans (if they are like me) who are caught up in the NIL and social media footprint of Paige (and hopefully others) see it as a necessary step to stabilize WBB as a whole. The WNBA for example needs to get some of these high visibility players and capture new and younger fans to push the WNBA to economic stability. And the main reason for this is if the WNBA can]t sustain itself and disintegrates and disbands, there is no real goal for the best future WBB players to continue to train and improve and that will turn the WCBB game back to intramurals. So keep making noise in the world Paige (and friends)

And I just hate the idea that Paige seems to be thought of less because the team could not overcome a superior SC team for a NC. Besides the fact that Paige got limited help from the team as a whole, Stewie is an athletic freak. 6-4 with 7-1 wing span and 40+ percentage 3pt shooter with defensive skills that are not normal. Paige has no freakish athletic gifts that allow her to take over the game 1 vs 5. What she does, she does from intellect, guile, attitude and getting support from teammates and she has a much lower threshold to overcome a poor start than Stewie. If Stewie misses a few shots, she can sit back and make 3 great defensive plays to get her rolling. And Stewie does not seem adverse to going after financial and social opportunities.
 
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sun said:
And if the next high school basketball star has dreams of becoming a social media celebrity, they may also consider playing at UConn because Paige is part of the Huskies Nation where she got her start and a lot of media support.
Since it worked out for her then maybe if they attend UConn it could work out for them too.
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you realize that Instagram followers has nothing to do with Nil or basketball. The Cavinder twins have multiple Nil deals, they went 16-15 and got bounced rd 1 of the MWC tournament. You think anyone is running to go play with them cause of their social media followers?
 
sun said:
They don't teach much geography in primary school, and some future BB stars still aren't old enough to make their first tweet.
Paige will be known as a UConn alumni for many years to come.
And then kids can Google UConn to learn where it's located and all of the rest about its claim to fame.
By putting it on social media, she'll help both herself and UConn grow a bigger following.
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You need Google or a GPS app to find Storrs.
 
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TeamFirst! said:
All these NIL deals will only help increase her number of followers. She is so deserving. As deserving as anyone I am aware of. She can sell commercial posts on her feed for over $60,000 each? That's mind boggling.
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Well said. Paige is such a humble young lady. All of the attention she has been getting since 8th or 9th grade, she has handled every phase of that attention with class, grace, and poise. So happy for Paige. Great young lady.
 
The best thing about this is that it puts a spotlight on Paige, the human being. Paige shares her fame and success with others as well as any superstar I’ve ever seen. From acknowledging black women at the Espy’s, gifting all of her teammates with high-end basketball shoes from Stock-X, donating $1000/assist to underprivileged minority kids in MN or her latest deal with Chegg to combat student food insecurity, Paige is someone who clearly cares about others and is willing to do whatever she can to improve the lives of those who have not been as fortunate as she has.
 
Alydar said:
That's a nice thought but Bueckers had most of her instagram following before she signed with UConn. Bueckers and UConn are helping each other.
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I can't find all of the historical figures, but she easily added over 100K just during last year's NCAAT.
In April , 2021 Paige had 753K followers.
Azzi Fudd's followers have been growing tremendously too.
Playing for UConn is part of it.

www.sportico.com

March Madness Daily: Paige Bueckers and UConn Lead Social Media Growth

The UConn women basketball team has added almost 4,000 new followers on Twitter, the most of any men's or women's Final Four team.
www.sportico.com www.sportico.com

justwomenssports.com

Paige Bueckers gained 36K Instagram followers during March Madness - Just Women's Sports

UConn’s Paige Bueckers was the most-followed women’s basketball player during March Madness, reaching 1 million Instagram followers.
justwomenssports.com justwomenssports.com
 
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I really hope that 99% of them are kids her own age, and maybe the rest reporters, etc.
If not, it is pretty creepy. I never follow any of the kids on social media. Not saying YOU can't, but I think it's creepy when adults do it.
 
Alydar said:
That's a nice thought but Bueckers had most of her instagram following before she signed with UConn. Bueckers and UConn are helping each other.
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Yes, yes they are.
 
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jchusky said:
you realize that Instagram followers has nothing to do with Nil or basketball. The Cavinder twins have multiple Nil deals, they went 16-15 and got bounced rd 1 of the MWC tournament. You think anyone is running to go play with them cause of their social media followers?
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While social media followers may not have much to do w/ actual basketball/results - they clearly have quite a bit to do w/ NIL.:




Opendorse data is only one snapshot of the total NIL picture (There are other companies Schools/Students align with)
 
GoUconn7961 said:
I really hope that 99% of them are kids her own age, and maybe the rest reporters, etc.
If not, it is pretty creepy. I never follow any of the kids on social media. Not saying YOU can't, but I think it's creepy when adults do it.
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I don’t follow kids on social media either, but I think whether it’s creepy or not depends entirely on why someone follows them. In Paige’s case, if adults follow her because they are fans of UConn WBB or WBB in general, as well as the fact that she is a great basketball player and role model, I have no problem with that.
 
GoUconn7961 said:
I really hope that 99% of them are kids her own age, and maybe the rest reporters, etc.
If not, it is pretty creepy. I never follow any of the kids on social media. Not saying YOU can't, but I think it's creepy when adults do it.
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Well to some degree I agree with you. However, at this point The Kid's account isn't really a personal account anymore. It's a business for her now. So I don't think there is probably the same stigma of following a business account vs a personal account of a teenage girl.
 
For those versed in NIL, can Paige and/or UConn set-up a fund or program to cultivate (and/or compensate) other UConn players (for) NIL opportunities?

I would think putting a mechanism in place would be a huge recruiting boon & likely necessity to maintain UConn’s program appeal for top players in this burgeoning NIL environment.
 
nomdoux said:
For those versed in NIL, can Paige and/or UConn set-up a fund or program to cultivate (and/or compensate) other UConn players (for) NIL opportunities?

I would think putting a mechanism in place would be a huge recruiting boon & likely necessity to maintain UConn’s program appeal for top players in this burgeoning NIL environment.
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Interesting question. Paige did use her NIL relationship with StockX to secure high-end basketball shoes for all of her teammates. But I would fear that the type of compensation program you suggest would fall under illegal “booster” activity per NCAA rules.
 
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